Page 115 - The New Gold Standard

It’s a Matter of Trust
viable business that affords staff members the materials and train-
ing they need to be successful. As observed by Allan Federer, gen-
eral manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, “While
we have always placed our culture and the needs of our Ladies
and Gentlemen as top priorities, in recent years we have become
increasingly effective at driving financial success as well, without
compromising our culture.”
In order for staff to place trust in leadership, corporate exec-
utives must make fiscally sound decisions that create sustainable
employment. President Simon Cooper is clear: “One of the
things we must achieve to do good beyond our walls is to be
profitable within them. In our orientation, for example, we make
absolutely no bones about our need to be financially sound. We
don’t want anybody at Ritz-Carlton to think that ‘profit’ is a bad
word. If we don’t make a profit, people don’t keep jobs. If we
don’t do well and don’t grow the company, then opportunities
don’t grow in other parts of the world. There is so much that
comes from being successful. If our expenses exceed our rev-
enues over time, all that goodwill we are creating in the lives of
others will ultimately go to waste. You’ve got to build a sustain-
able business, and I don’t mean just sustainable in today’s envi-
ronmental terms. I mean sustainable in terms of generating
long-term profits over time. To that end, and it may surprise
some in the context of delivering a luxury product, I’m a believer
in not overresourcing. I’ve seen enough occasions where re-
sources were added when times were good, and then when times
were bad, they had to go.”

C Stretching and Succeeding D

So how does Ritz-Carlton stretch human resources and still deliver
the consistent, highest-quality experience for the guest? In a word:
trust. Staff members trust leadership to make staffing decisions that
protect employee interests over the long term. From a financial per-
spective this trust is fostered, in part, by simplifying and creating

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